Rob B. (64) has been acquitted in the case of the so-called Rosmalense flat murder. The Arnhem Court of Appeal determined this on Monday. B., including pre-trial detention, was wrongfully imprisoned for fourteen years for the murder of his girlfriend. According to the court, there is officially a miscarriage of justice. The Public Prosecution Service did not say whether the woman had committed suicide. The prosecutor called the matter “extremely painful”.
The case revolves around 37-year-old Regie van den Hoogen, who was found dead on April 10, 2000 by her boyfriend in her flat in Rosmalen. Her neck is cut, the knife is under her arm. There were no signs of burglary, so police said there could only be two possibilities: either Regie slit her own throat, or her boyfriend Rob did it. Following the reports of two investigators, Selma Schieveld and Richard Eikelenboom, Rob is eventually convicted of killing his girlfriend. Rob B. has always denied his guilt, but in 2007 he was sentenced on appeal to TBS with compulsory treatment.
Also read: Rob B. has been convicted ‘with the wet finger’ in Rosmalense case
Years later, the findings of Schieveld and Eikelenboom are nevertheless disputed. In 2019, experts from the Netherlands Forensic Institute will conduct new research at the request of the Criminal Cases Advisory Committee (ACAS). Those researchers brush the previous studies off the table. When a professor of forensic medicine also concludes that suicide is more likely than manslaughter, Diederik Aben, Advocate General at the Supreme Court, submits a request for review. In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled that the case must again, in August of this year the Public Prosecution Service asked for an acquittal.
With the acquittal in the Rosmalense flat murder, the case comes in the line of the Putten murder case, Lucia de B. and the Pettense camping murder: cases that had to be repeated and eventually led to acquittal.
You can talk about suicide at the national helpline 113 Suicide Prevention. Phone 0800-0113 or www.113.nl
Also read: Students were already convinced ten years ago: the Rosmalense flat murder was a suicide